Two second-round matches of the 39th Empress's Cup All Japan Women's Football Tournament were held at Saku Sogo Sports Park Athletic Park in Nagano on Friday 3 November.

Pick-up Match 1

Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (Nadeshiko Division1/Saitama) 8-0（5-0, 3-0）Nittaidai Fields Yokohama Satellite B (Kanto 5/Tokyo)

Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (Nadeshiko League Division1/Saitama) faced Nittaidai Fields Yokohama Satellite B (Kanto 5/Tokyo) in the first game.

Nittaidai B, who usually plays in the Tokyo Women’s Football League Division 1, defended solidly while waiting for their opportunity to counter-attack against the Nadeshiko top-flight powerhouse, who connected passes with good ball movement, but the Yokohama club gradually got used to their rhythm of play and managed to create few chances and fire shots from range.

Urawa Reds, on the other hand, moved the ball widely from left to right, stretching the opponents’ defence and tried to find the open space upfront. Then the Nadeshiko club broke the deadlock in an unexpected way in the 23rd minute. After collecting the ball in front of the goal, KATO Chika made a weak attempt, but the opposing goalkeeper failed to clear her effort with her foot and the ball bundled over the line, giving the Urawa side an early lead in the game.

It was a tentative start for the Reds, but they had settled down after the opener and doubled the lead three minutes later. After initiating an attack from the right and swiftly moving and  switching to the left, ANDO Kozue reacted well to the left cross and netted one into the net. Ando had been playing in Germany and returned to Japan only this summer, making her appearance in the Empress's Cup for the first time in eight years. The former Bundesliga striker struck another goal in the 40th minute to give her side a three-goal cushion.

Urawa continued to display their dynamic style of attacking plays by driving the ball from one side to another and sending deep crosses to the far side, where they find an open onrushing player to score. Their dominance continued throughout the first half, where they tallied five goals in total to give them a commanding lead at halftime.

In the second half, Nittaidai changed their formation and placed two forward players upfront to strike back. However, the change of strategy was not effective, as Urawa kept their attacking flair with players exploiting the open space against the side who were now keen on scoring. Just in the first four minutes of play, midfielder NAOMOTO Hikaru fired two shots inside the penalty box, including the one that hit the crossbar.

Urawa also implemented a two-forward system, while their wide midfielders took on a more attacking role and looked for space behind the Nittadai’s backline. They continued to overwhelm the opponents and tacked on three more goals in the second half, netting 8 goals and making 35 attempts in total, before they grabbed a comprehensive 8-0 win over Nittadai.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

JFA-TV [Full Match]

Pick-up Match 2

NIPPON TV BELEZA (Nadeshiko Division1/Tokyo) 6-0 (2-0, 4-0）JFA Academy Fukushima (Tokai 5/Shizuoka)

In the second game, the crowned champions of the Nadeshiko League Division1 this year, NIPPON TV BELEZA (Nadeshiko Division1/Tokyo), met JFA Academy Fukushima (Tokai 5/Shizuoka) in their first match of the Empress’s Cup.

Against powerhouse Beleza who reached the semi-finals last year, JFA Academy Fukushima entered the match by focusing their efforts in defending and set the backline deep in their own end to form a defensive block. The academy team stayed vocal and shifted swiftly to keep the defence compact and restrict the opponents’ attacking space.

Beleza responded well to the Fukushima's defensive organisation with excellent off-the-ball movements and finding open space to be exploited. Capitalising on their individual talents, the Nadeshiko club kept high possession and, despite the fine saves from the opposing goalkeeper which denied them from scoring in the first quarter of play, they finally carved open the tenacious defence to put one into the net in the 16th minute. After receiving the ball just outside of the penalty area, TANAKA Mina evaded the challenges of the surrounding defenders to move inside the box and calmly directed her shot past the opposing keeper and into the right side of the goal.

Thereafter, Beleza continued to play inside the opposing side of the pitch, but struggled to break through the focused Fukushima defence. However, the top-flight club doubled the lead just before halftime. During injury time, after pulling the defenders out of line with a neat exchange of pass on the right, MIYAGAWA Asato sent a cross to the far side, where HASEGAWA Yui fired in a header to give her side a two-goal advantage at the break.

In the second half, BELEZA used long-distance passes from midfield to send the ball behind the opponents' defensive line, and succeeded in opening space to create effective chances. After 62 minutes, Tanaka reacted to a right cross with a header to give her side a three-goal advantage. Then just five minutes later, IWASHIMIZU Azusa struck the team’s fourth goal from a corner kick, which she herself earned through her long-distance pass.

Beleza continued to outsmarted their opponents by adding more attacking variations. The Nadeshiko club attacked with a wide variety of passes including long balls to exploit the space behind the backline after they reclaimed possession and drew the opposing players out of position. As a result, they had more space where they could execute effective scoring plays. Tanaka reacted to a right cross with a header and scored another goal in the 62nd minute and IWASHIMIZU Azusa scored the fourth from a corner-kick chance that she earned with a long feed five minutes later.

It took over 81 minutes of play before Fukushima made their first attempt at goal, but they could not alter the course of the game. Beleza’s dominance remained intact and added two more goals in the remainder of the match. SAKAGUCHI Mizuho dashed up from midfield and found her herself with space to fire in a goal inside the penalty area in the 86th minute, and Tanaka put an icing on the cake by scoring a hat trick in added time, before they completed a 6-0 rout over the academy team.

Match Report (Japanese version only)

JFA-TV [Full Match]

The remaining 14 games of the second round to will decide the teams advancing to the Round of 16 will be held across the country on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 November.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

Ryu Myongi, Coach of Nittaidai Fields Yokohama Satellite B
I expected that our team had to defend patiently, and I told my players to keep the defensive line deep in our own end.  However, the opponents created scoring chances and attempted plenty of shots at goal. In the second half, we decided to challenge the opponents by playing our own style of football with competitive spirit. Despite having some fear against the top-flight Nadeshiko team, they gave their best once the game started. We have to improve the quality of our attacking plays as well as finding a regular goalkeeper.

I must praise my players for the miraculous run they had in the Tokyo Qualifiers, and not only did they make it to the cup finals, they also achieved the realistic goal of winning the first round of competition. I further believe that this experience of playing against the higher ranked teams including the Nadeshiko Division 1 club today will be a precious asset for their football career. Our top team became the champions of Division 2 and they will be competing against Urawa next season. Capitalising on this experience, I hope that some of my players make it to the top team as well.

YAKUWA Akiko, Coach of JFA Academy Fukushima
I was hoping that we would defend solidly in the beginning and steal a goal in the second half. However, we were force to stay deep in our own end, and it made it difficult to initiate effective counter-attacks. The opponents had excellent individual skills and, in order to protect our goal, we didn’t have much option but a low block. However, even when we reclaimed possession, we didn’t make swift transitions and showed enough strength to hit them back on the counter. This was exatly the area that I advised my players to fix it during the halftime break. The opponents switched positions, but my players did well to keep them checked. I must also praise them for fighting hard until the end against the side that overwhelmed them with speed and power as well as the ability to find open space. It is now important to take advantage of this experience to build a better team in the future.

ANDO Kozue (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies)
I believe that we did more than just to win the match and displayed our style of play. We have experience against similar opponents who stayed back and defended. It is important that we capitalise on the chances that we have against such opponents. I made several unsuccessful attempts at the beginning, but stayed calm as well. Even after I scored an opener, I braced myself and tried to score more goals. As a result, I netted few more before the game ended. I must say that it’s been a while since I had a match against a college team or played in the match that started at eleven in the morning. 

Urawa haven’t won the Empress’s cup yet, and when I played for them before going to Germany, we lost in the final as well. Cup tournaments are quite popular in Germany, and the final played at Koln attracted over tens and thousands of spectators and was broadcasted live on TV.

This year, we had a disappointing league season and failed to win the league cup as well. I’m hoping that we can raise this trophy of the Empress's Cup along with my teammates.

TANAKA Mina (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
Good ball movements are not enough to score goals and I was looking for areas where I can break though the opponents’ defence. In the second half, we had more open space and created several good scoring chances. but to be honest we should have capitalised on those chances and scored more. I was involved in several of those plays, and should have netted couple more myself as well. More than the hat trick I scored, I cannot get my mind off the missed one-on-one chance I had with the opposing goalkeeper. It is important that I should brace myself one more time and work on the areas that I performed poorly in the game. We won the league this year, but we haven’t claimed the title of the Empress’s Cup for the past three years. I believe everyone in the team shares the same feeling that we need to win it this year and end the season on a high note.

Tournament Period：28 October 2017(Sat.)～24 December 2017(Sun.)
First Round　Sat. 28 and Sun 29. October
Second Round　Fri.3, Sat. 4 and Sun. 5 November
Third Round　Sat. 11 and Sun. 12 November
Quarter-finals　Sat. 18 and Sun. 19 November
Semi-finals　Thu. 21 December
Final　Sun. 24 December

Tournament Information